Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka pulled out of the tournament on Saturday ahead of her third round match due to injury.
The 16th seed Japanese star, who won the 2019 and 2021 titles at Melbourne Park, was scheduled to play local player Maddison Inglis but withdrew from the contest, stating that she needs to take care of her body following issues that cropped up during her previous match against Sorana Cirstea.
Writing on Instagram, Osaka said: “I've had to make the difficult decision to withdraw to address something my body needs attention for after my last match.
“I was so excited to keep going and this run meant the most to me, so having to stop here breaks my heart but I can't risk doing any further damage so I can get back on the court.”
The injury is said to be related to the abdomen issues that have affected her in the past. She retired during her third-round match at Melbourne Park last year against Belinda Bencic after a set.
Osaka earlier revealed she had been carrying the injury and had hoped to play despite the pain.
“I thought maybe if I gave myself a break before my match today, I would be able to handle it, but I warmed up, and it got a lot worse,” she said.
“I definitely have to do more tests, and obviously I think coming back from pregnancy, my body changed quite a lot. So this is something I have to be really cautious of.”
It brought to an end an eventful week for Osaka. She provided one of the moments of the tournament when she came out for her first-round match against Antonia Ruzic dressed in an extravagant jellyfish-inspired outfit.
The 28-year-old was then involved in a row about respect with second-round opponent Cirstea after the Romanian took exception to Osaka's shouts of 'come on'.
The pull-out is a setback for Osaka, who has been returning to her best and made the US Open semi-finals last year.
“Obviously it was nice that everyone enjoyed my outfit, but also, I enjoyed playing the tennis here. I played two three-set matches, and I felt really physically healthy,” Osaka said earlier.
Meanwhile, Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka bowed out of his last Australian Open on Saturday. The three-time major winner lost 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to American Taylor Fritz.
The 40-year-old, who made his Grand Slam breakthrough in Melbourne by winning the 2014 title before adding titles at the French Open and the US Open in subsequent years, had announced that 2026 would be his farewell season.
After battling past Laslo Djere in his opener and edging a five-set marathon against Arthur Gea in the last round, Wawrinka mounted another valiant effort but ran out of gas against American ninth seed Fritz on John Cain Arena.
“Fritz is an amazing player, he's a tough fighter to play against, so congratulations to him and his team. He was better today, no question about that,” Wawrinka said.
“The atmosphere was unbelievable, so thank you guys for always showing up.”
Also, Novak Djokovic made more history at the Australian Open with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over Botic van de Zandschulp which made him the first player ever to record 400 singles wins at the Grand Slams.
Hos 102nd triumph in Australia equalled Roger Federer's mark.
This is only the second slam since Wimbledon in 2023 where Djokovic has reached the fourth round without dropping a set.
"I feel really good. It's been a great start," the Serbian great said.
"Things can change and I'm not getting ahead of myself, because last year I learnt a lesson. I got too excited too early in some of the Slams, playing well and getting to the quarter-finals and semi-finals and then getting injured."
